SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Brooks Koepka felt comfortable in his return to the PGA Tour at Torrey Pines last week, despite his putter not always cooperating.
The five-time major champion's second start should be even cozier, even as up to 200,000 fans cram onto TPC Scottsdale's Stadium Course.
Success at the wet (as in booze-soaked) and wild Phoenix Open takes a certain mindset and Koepka has embraced the pandemonium, winning it twice.
“I enjoy the chaos,” Koepka said. “It’s fun. It can kind of get you in between shots, gives you something to either kind of laugh at or whatever’s going on. There’s always something to see, but it’s a fun week.”
Scottie Scheffler thinks so, too.
When Scheffler arrived at the TPC Scottsdale in 2022, he had yet to win on the PGA Tour despite several near-misses.
Since he beat Patrick Cantlay in a playoff that year, Scheffler hasn't stopped winning, raising the trophy in a staggering 27% of his starts the past four years.
The world's No. 1 player arrives at the Phoenix Open with a chance to become the first PGA Tour player to win three straight starts since Dustin Johnson in 2017. Scheffler closed his 2025 season with a win at the pre-Ryder Cup Procore Championship in Napa, California, and opened this year up with a win at The American Express in Palm Desert, California — his 20th PGA Tour victory.
After taking last week off, Scheffler returns to a familiar place (and sounds). He backed up his 2022 Phoenix Open win by defending his title and has four top-10s in his past six starts at the Stadium Course.
“Lots of good memories,” Scheffler said. “It’s nice to come back to this tournament. This tournament is a lot of fun for me to play in and it’s fun to be able to play in front of this crowd.”
Last year was a rare exception.
Scheffler's start to the 2025 season was delayed after he sliced his hand trying to cut ravioli with a wine glass on Christmas. The Phoenix Open was his second start and he never found a groove, tying for 25th — his worst finish of the year and 15 shots behind champion Thomas Detry, who's now playing in the Saudi-backed LIV Golf League.
Scheffler didn't take long to find his form, winning two majors among his six victories and a fourth straight Player of the Year Award to match Tiger Woods' record.
With time to prepare for the 2026 season, Scheffler looked like nothing had changed in his first tournament, erasing an early two-shot deficit in the final round to win by four shots at PGA West two weeks ago.
“Did a bit less cooking in the offseason this year — stuck to plastic silverware instead of metal stuff,” Scheffler joked. “I’m only kidding. It’s nice to get off to that kind of start. It’s nice to feel very prepared going into the season.”
Koepka had a different type of preparation his first non-major PGA Tour event since 2022.
Unsure of how he'd be received after being freed from his LIV contract, Koepka was admittedly nervous at last week's Farmers Insurance Open. He didn't notch his first birdie of the opening round until the 18th hole, but rallied to make the cut and finished tied for 56th.
The best part of the week was the support Koepka received, nearly all of it positive.
That could change this week.
Vitriol can be part of the game at the Phoenix Open, particularly late in the day when the booze and sun take their toll, but Koepka is ready to embrace it all.
“I’m just focused on myself,” Koepka said. “I’m focused on how I can go play the best golf over the next four days. I’m not focused on anybody else.”
Tuning out the cacophony is the key to success at the Phoenix Open — as Koepka and Scheffler have both shown.
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Scottie Scheffler smiles after winning the American Express golf event on the Pete Dye Stadium Course at PGA West Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026, in La Quinta, Calif. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Brooks Koepka tees off on the eighth hole while playing the North Course at Torrey Pines during the second round of the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Trump administration officials traveled to Los Angeles on Wednesday to outline the president's plan to override state and local rules and speed up the permitting process for reconstruction of tens of thousands of homes destroyed by last year's wildfires.
Last week the president signed an executive order that the White House promised would allow homeowners to rebuild without contending with “unnecessary, duplicative, or obstructive” requirements. The plan is to allow federal loan recipients to “self-certify” that they meet all state and local building requirements if their permits aren't approved within 60 days,
Trump's goal is to help homeowners cut through bureaucratic red tape and “tear through every single obstacle” that's slowing rebuilding, said U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin, whom Trump tapped to oversee the effort.
His staff will examine why over 1,000 permit applications have been returned to residents seeking to rebuild, Zeldin said during a Wednesday news conference after meeting with residents in Pacific Palisades, where the first of the two infernos erupted in January 2025.
“We want to know why every single one of these applications are sent back to the applicant,” he said. “What is that hurdle ... that’s preventing them the ability to be able to rebuild their home?”
State and local officials maintain permits are being approved in a timely manner. They questioned whether the Trump administration can legally take over the permitting process and said they've received little to no information about how the new process is to work.
Roughly 3,000 permits have been approved, with more than 1,000 homes under construction, according to county data.
“Now (Trump) has signed an executive order that goes into effect, when? We don’t know. Is it legal? Almost certainly not," California Gov. Gavin Newsom said at a news conference Monday in San Diego. "He hasn’t coordinated with anyone to tell them. It’s just typical Trump,” he said during a news conference in San Diego.
The Palisades and Eaton fires killed 31 people and destroyed about 13,000 residential properties, becoming some of the most destructive blazes in the region's history. The fires burned for more than three weeks and cleanup efforts took about seven months — a timeline that both Newsom and Trump have praised as particularly quick.
Zeldin called on insurance companies to speed up payouts to policyholders.
“There are a number of number of people waiting for their full insurance payment," he said. "They are desperate to receive every last penny that they need from their policy to be able to rebuild their lives.”
Under the new federal rules, anyone approved for a Small Business Administration Disaster loan can self-certify that their building plan meets state and local rules if they don't get a permit within 60 days of applying. The order also directs federal agencies to expedite waivers, permits and approvals to work around any environmental, historic preservation or natural resource laws that might stand in the way of rebuilding.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, whose district was hit by the Eaton Fire, pointed out that there are already local self-certification rules in place that help expedite reconstruction. Most permits are handled by local officials within a month, she said.
Barger, who joined Zeldin on Wednesday, said she shared it's a lack of money, not permitting issues, that are keeping many from rebuilding.
The Trump administration has not approved the state’s $33.9 billion disaster aid request.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass did not join the roundtable, but Zeldin said they met privately. Bass has called the executive order a political stunt and recently said rebuilding plans in Pacific Palisades are being approved in half the time compared to single-family home projects citywide before the wildfires, “with more than 70% of home permit clearances no longer required.”
The office of Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, who represents Palisades, said she was not invited and said the Trump administration's effort would not bring meaningful relief.
The Board of Supervisors passed a motion Tuesday directing county attorneys and planning officials to monitor the federal government's implementation of Trump's executive order and, if necessary, take legal action to defend local permitting authority.
Also Tuesday, the Los Angeles City Council took steps to wave permitting fees in the Palisades, a move that could cost as much as $90 million over three years, according to Matt Szabo, the city’s top budget analyst.
Justin Levitt, a law professor at Loyola Law School, said there's little the president cao in the short term to speed up rebuilding. Trump could press Congress to pass new national permitting laws, which might take years.
But an attempt by the administration to supersede state and local regulations would spark a long fight in the courts.
“The claim that the federal government can just come in and boot these local laws out of existence, that’s not a thing,” Levitt said.
Associated Press reporter Julie Watson contributed from San Diego.
FILE - A person walks amid the destruction left behind by the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
FILE - An aerial view shows houses being rebuilt on cleared lots months after the Palisades Fire, Dec. 5, 2025, in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
